Some barflies behave like animals. Michelle Gitschier Muirhead of Everett’s Park-9 Dog Bar is OK with that.
Most bartenders specialize in hair of the dog. Medford’s Michelle Gitschier Muirhead, 34, actually serves drinks to dogs (and their owners) at Park-9 Dog Bar in Everett. The cocktail bar offers cheekily named drinks for humans and pets (Dog Dare, The Underdog), plus snacks from pop-up Big Pig BBQ and plenty of space to roam. They celebrate their first anniversary on Saturday, April 13, with a charity fund-raiser benefiting NEADS Service Dogs.
What do you do, and how did you get into this business?
I’m the beverage and hospitality director at Park-9. I’ve been in food and beverage for, oh gosh — 17 years now. I started bartending in college as a way to pay rent pretty much and just really liked it. And after I graduated, I kept with it and just moved into different sectors of hospitality.
Where did you go to college? What did you study?
I went to the University of New Hampshire, and I studied civil engineering. But after college, I moved to Boston. I actually worked at the Corner Tavern just outside of Kenmore for a few years. Then I moved to San Diego about nine years ago and worked there for eight years. I’ve been back in Boston for about a year and a half now. I’m from here. My husband’s from here. We just came back for family. And, of course, we have amazing weather here.
Right. So, this might seem like the dumbest question ever: Do you actually make cocktails for dogs?
As far as actual cocktail designing, it’s just for humans. But we do things for the dogs. We have dog beer, made from chicken broth or pork broth. I’m all for the image of giving your dog a beer, but it’s obviously not actually alcoholic. The rest of the cocktail programming is humanfocused.
Tell me about that: What goes into your day-to-day?
It’s obviously a little bit of a unique environment and different from any role I’ve worked before. There’s running the entire food and beverage program, and then also the dog beer program and the dog treats, which is something that’s very new to me. I have not done that before.
Do you have pets? Are you a dog lover?
I do love dogs, but I’ve literally never had a dog.
So what drew you to canine cocktails? Just the new challenge?
Definitely, because it’s a new challenge. And I do love dogs. But since I’ve always worked in hospitality, I’m gone for such long stretches of the day. It would be cruel to have a dog that was left home for such a long time. So it gives me my dog fix without having to commit to having a dog that would probably be a little bit neglected at home due to my hours.
Talk to me about the treats.
We get most of our treats from Preppy Puppy and Polka Dog. So we have dog tacos and doughnuts with all-natural ingredients. They’re healthy for the dogs, but just really cute.
You also handle hospitality. What are the considerations of having a dog-friendly establishment? Do dogs attack each other? Do they get loud after a few treats, like people?
It’s always a little bit of a challenge. But it’s a really wellthought-out facility. We actually have ‘park rangers’ in the offleash area. They watch for any signs of hostility or aggression or possessiveness in any of the dogs, and they always step in the second that they see anything.
We have quite stringent cleaning requirements as well, since it’s an environment that’s prone to messes.
Let’s talk a little bit about the human treats that you make. What are some of your favorite things on the menu?
Right now, my personal favorite thing on the menu is the Beagle’s Knees, which is obviously a fun twist on the Bee’s Knees with a fig-infused Short Path gin. One of the great things about Park-9 is that we have the opportunity to showcase so many local vendors. So we have Short Path, Boston Harbor Distillery, Bully Boy. It’s just great to be able to support local on our menu.
Are there any drinks that you absolutely hate to make?
I will never work anywhere with a blender or subject my employees to a blender. Anything frozen that requires a blender throws a wrench into smooth service, when you have to step aside and do such a time-consuming product that everyone just finds really annoying.
What about guilty pleasures? What do you snack on?
Before I moved to San Diego, I lived a half a block away from Bova’s, and that was definitely my guilty pleasure. It still is, when I make it down there, for arancini or any of their pastries. I will eat them all.
And drinks? Do you have a favorite cocktail?
I have a cocktail of the month every month and then I rotate through and like something different. But I will always come back to a Gold Rush, which is whiskey or bourbon and honey and lemon.
That sounds like something that’ll clear out your sinuses. Let’s get back to the dogs. I know you’re having an anniversary party for service dogs.
For our one-year anniversary, we’re doing things a little bit differently. We’re asking people to leave their pets at home, and we’re hosting a gala to benefit NEADS Service Dogs. We’ll be raising money to support NEADS as well as Sweet Paws Rescue and Street Dog Coalition.
What are some of the challenges of serving drinks at a pet-friendly place?
When it comes to the dog owners, actually, it’s not a negative thing. I’ve had so many more positive guest interactions than I’ve had in other jobs, because all of them are just so happy that they’re hanging out with dogs. Negative guest interactions are just so rare, which is absolutely fantastic.
But we have the various stereotypical things that I did not expect in a dog environment. You know, we’re replacing a lot of drinks that have been knocked over by dogs. And I have to think, while designing drinks: If a dog were to get into this, would it be dog safe? We have no chocolate in the venue. We have no dog-dangerous foods in the venue.
How do the dogs behave? You must have funny stories.
It’s not a calm environment, per se, with the dogs. But when the dogs are all playing together, they’re not getting super loud or anything like that. It’s not as chaotic as you might think it is. It’s just happy. It’s boisterous. During the weekdays, we do have calm times for people with socially shy dogs — dogs that are not looking to have an extremely chaotic environment. I definitely recommend visiting on a Monday or Tuesday.
Do people bring their dog up to the bar? Do you say, ‘Hey, what’s up, buddy?’ I’m trying to picture this.
Oh, absolutely. We see that all the time. We see dogs in costumes, dogs in outfits. We have one side of our bar in the offleash park. You’ll be sitting there taking a drink order, and all of a sudden there’ll be a Golden Retriever putting its paws up on the bar, like they’re next in line.
‘Hello, sir? What may I get you?’
One hundred percent.
That’s very cute. It takes a special brand of hospitality to cater to canines. Have you ever had to break up a dog fight?
I personally have not. That’s not my area of expertise. There have been a few scuffles, but our rangers are just so good at reading the signs if a dog might be a threat or might be aggressive. We have been able to, for the most part, stop everything before it’s even started.
Last but not least: Where do you eat when you’re not working?
We love doing Thai takeout. I do a Thai takeout tour. That’s my number-one comfort food. Our most recent favorite would be the Bangkok, in Melrose. I get pad Thai. I know it’s the stereotypical answer, but we have to order that first off just to test it out.
‘You’ll be sitting there taking a drink order, and all of a sudden there’ll be a Golden Retriever putting its paws up on the bar, like they’re next in line.’